Lect. #4 - Tibet, the Tibet Question, & Tibet's Historical Evolution

I. Introduction
                ● The Serf (Nongnu 农奴)

    A. Review
                ● Tibet, Tibetans and Historical claims
                        - Regions:
                              + Amdo (northeastern Tibet)
                              + Kham (southeastern Tibet)
                              + Ü-Tsang (central Tibet)
                        - Tibetan State (c. 600)
                        - Mongol Empire phase (c. 1200)
                              + Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
                        - Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
                              + Manchu rulers
                        - 20th century
                              + Warlord era: 1911-1937
                                    * Wuzu gonghe (五族共和) - Unity of the Five Races/Republic of the Five Races
                                    * China = Five Races (Ethnicity) = Territory
                              + Nanjing Decade (Nationalists): 1927-1937
                              + World War II: 1937-1945
                              + Chinese Civil War: 1945-1949
                        - People's Republic of China (PRC): 1949 - present



II. The Tibet Question

    A. Question of Perspective?
               ●  The relationship of Tibet and China
               ●  Independence vs. Integrated Part of China
               ●  PRC Perspective:  feudal exploitation
               ●  Tibetan Perspective: Land of Peace

    B. History of Denial (Tsering Shakya)
            1. Tibet and Tibetans role?
            2. Tibet and Tibetans in 1950s
            3. Tibet: Independent or Not?

               ● Tibetans: Blameless
                        - Tibetan people: merely passive agents
                        - Denial because in 1950s clear consensus among both Tibetan secular and religious classes:
                        - Tibetans could (and did) co-exist, even welcomed the modernizing influences brought by PRC
                              
               ● Chinese
                       - Refusal to see the question of Tibet in terms of desires and wishes of the Tibetan people
                        - Refusal to acknowledge Tibet has it's own history (independent of China)
                        - Two core ideas:
                              + Portrays Western imperialism (including India) as primary force for Tibetan independence
                              + Century of humiliation (mid-19th century to mid-20th century)
               ● Tibet Question
                        - Few would disagree with claim that Tibet is (today) part of China
                        - China's claim of political forces justify its political control
                        - Historical treaties (from Qing) used to legitimate.

    C. Moving Beyond CTA vs PRC
            1. Free Tibet?
               ●  Diversity of Tibetans in Exile
               ●  Diversity of Tibetans in PRC

    D. The Tibet Question in the 21st century
                ● Dalai Lama
                        - Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
                        - Government in Exile
                        - Dharamsala, India
                        - 15th Dalai Lama (Succession issues)

                ● People's Republic of China (PRC)
                        - Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)
                        - Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan
                        - India
                              + Border Disputes
                              + 1962 Sino-Indian War
                              + 2017 Doklam Border Issue

III. Implications for the future

    A. International Dialogue
               ● 15th Dalai Lama
               ●  India/Nepal/Bhutan: Border Issues
               ●  Human Rights
               ●  Looking forward